This is an account of my birding trips in the valley plus holidays birding abroad.

Tuesday, 7 April 2015

Berlin Grant's Stag Easter 2015

On Good Friday morning a 330 am pick up was a shock to the system as we made our way to Luton
Airport.The gang assembled and we were soon on our way to Berlin .
We arrived got our cabs to the Berlin plus hotel in Warschauer Platz.

Once we had checked in some of us went on a tour of Berlin,we got a taxi to the Brandenberg gate
where we eventually got on a British speaking guide tour with the very informative Sophie from South Wales.

Sophia got every body together after visiting the hot chocolate café as it was a bit cold here.

We headed off to rendezvous with our guide where she outlined the ports of call on
the tour,our first stop was the Holocaust monument.

Sophia was a wealth of information and highlighted the plight of the jews and below
you can see this architects achievement.

Next up was Hitlers bunker which was now under the ground in a car park of all
places so it would not glamorize him,once again our leader was very knowledgeable.

We moved on to the underground where the red army used red marble in its construction and
also for its embassy.

Next up was Luftwaffe HQ this long building was still intact and it was Goerings headquarters.

The Berlin wall section was seen at close quarters where I grabbed a curry vurst before viewing the
wall we were informed of the day it come down and all its implications.

Our final part of the tour took in Check Point Charlie and the two churches in the square,where we
left the lovely Sophie.

The picture below shows you how it was before its all changed now.

The Berliners got in to Christianity with the Czechs years ago hence the churches in the square.

Lunch was around 3pm today at the Hoffbrau beer hall where the lads got stuck into
their steins.

Needless to say a large quantity of beer was demolished before we left for the hotel
for a shower and shave.

Tonight it was the Berlin pub crawl taking us through till 1 am by which time I was
knackered.

About Me

I have been a local Naturalist and Ornithologist since the age of 13.
My boyhood was spent in Croxley Green where I searched for birds nests in the woodlands and river valleys.see colnevalleybirding.co.uk for more info.